


Homecoming

by thedishonourablelady



Category: Original Work
Genre: Afterlife, Drowning, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25560148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedishonourablelady/pseuds/thedishonourablelady
Summary: Out of the chaos of a sinking U-boat, a doomed soldier manages to find peace.





	Homecoming

If he had had the presence of mind, he would have wondered how the seas of the Arctic could be so warm in winter. But nonetheless, the layer of ice that had been creeping over his body seemed to crack, allowing shards of heat to penetrate it and warm his frozen, aching muscles. He was suddenly wrapped snugly in a thick blanket of heat which muffled the sounds of the waves crashing about their overflowing lifeboat, threatening to swallow them whole, and the shouts of the British and the screams of his comrades who would have given anything in that moment for the privilege of Hans’ place on an overcrowded lifeboat that was gradually filling with the Arctic water. The sight of their U-boat being devoured by the sea and men waving their arms in desperation faded into darkness. The heat suffocated the panic that had animated his frantic escape from their doomed U-boat, and he felt only a blissful sense that there was absolutely nothing that he needed to be doing at that moment except lie back and enjoy the blanket of heat that was wrapping around him. 

Eventually, the darkness gave way to a clear blue sky, with birds singing overhead. The heat had dried out his soaked clothes, and he discovered that his weary body was supported by solid, dry land and that his head was resting on white cloth. He used the little energy he had left to turn his leaden body around and to look into the clear blue eyes of the golden-haired woman who was now cradling his head in her lap. This was the woman that he had been fighting for - this mother, wife and angel all rolled into one, who now looked at him with both maternal affection and romantic love. 

“You have done well, my sweet. Now you must rest and let me take care of you.”

His heavy head collapsed into her lap and he rested, content in the knowledge that there was absolutely nothing else that he needed to be doing at that moment except let her take care of him.


End file.
